The modern, customizable and tabbed Windows grep experience.
Search native drives, UNC shares, Docker containers, and entire WSL distributions with instant previews, Regex visualizations, and safe bulk replace-all powered by WinUI 3 and .NET 8.
If you like this project, a star ⭐️ would mean a lot :)
👉 Quick Start • Features • Usage Guide • Architecture • Build & Test
- Lightning-fast scanning - Streamed IO, smart caching, and optional Windows Search acceleration keep huge repos responsive
- Windows + WSL, one workflow - Switch between
C:\,\\server, and\\wsl$\Ubuntuwithout touching a terminal - Docker container search - Search directly inside running containers using the Docker API or local mirroring
- AI-assisted search chat - Start an AI discussion from the Search tab using your path, query, and active filters as context
- Visual Regex Builder - Design patterns with presets and live breakdowns before unleashing them on your codebase
- Safe replace - Confirmation dialogs, per-file summaries, and culture-aware matching make global edits reliable
- Context preview - Peek at the surrounding lines for a match without opening the file (like
grep -C) - Search within results - Instantly filter the current results list without re-scanning the filesystem
- Search profiles - Save and recall named searches (path + filters) from the command bar
- Export results - Copy to clipboard or export to CSV/JSON for reporting and automation
- Search history - Re-run or tweak recent searches without re-entering paths and filters
- CLI mode - Headless command-line interface (
grex-cli) for script integration with grep-compatible output - Multilingual UI - 100 languages supported with instant interface updates
- Modern Windows design - Tabs, command bar, column controls, and a Mica-coated shell feel native on Windows 11
Download the latest release from the Releases page or build from source:
Requirements: Windows 10 1809+ (or Windows 11), .NET 8 SDK, and Windows App Runtime 1.8
Install the required dependencies:
# Install .NET 8.0 SDK winget install Microsoft.DotNet.SDK.8 # Install Windows App Runtime winget install Microsoft.WindowsAppRuntime.1.8
git clone https://github.com/visorcraft/Grex.git
cd Grex
dotnet build grex.sln -p:Platform=x64
.\bin\x64\Debug\net8.0-windows10.0.19041.0\Grex.exe- Pick a path - Browse or paste
C:\repo,\\server\logs, or\\wsl$\Ubuntu\home\user - Choose search mode - Plain text or Regex; Content (per-line) or Files (per-file) results
- Refine filters - Toggle
.gitignore, hidden/system/bin/link flags, filename patterns, size limits, and Windows Search seeding - Run / replace - Press Enter to search, fill "Replace with" for bulk edits, and confirm the safety dialog
- Inspect results - Sort, resize, hide columns, filter within results, or double-click to open files. Tabs keep parallel searches isolated
- Target Docker containers - Enable in Settings, select a container from the dropdown, and search container paths directly
- Use AI search chat (optional) - Configure endpoint/API key/model in Settings, click the AI button, and refine results in a chat view
Need the full walkthrough? See the Usage Guide.
Grex includes an AI discussion mode on the Search tab:
- Click AI in the command bar to switch from result tables to a chat panel.
- Grex sends the current search path, search query, and active filter states as context/filtering suggestions.
- Continue with follow-up prompts in the chat box to narrow where to look next.
AI settings are configured in Settings → AI Search:
- Endpoint URL (OpenAI-compatible base URL)
- API Key (optional)
- Model (optional; leave blank to auto-detect from
/v1/models, then fallback togpt-4o-mini) - Test Endpoint button (probes
GET /v1/modelswith your current endpoint/API key and reports success or failure)
| Document | Description |
|---|---|
| Features | Complete feature reference with advanced options |
| Usage Guide | Step-by-step workflows and examples |
| Architecture | Technical design, components, and search flow |
| Build & Test | Build commands, test suite, and asset generation |
| Technical Reference | Keyboard shortcuts, settings schema, encoding details |
| Translations | Localization system and adding new languages |
# Restore & build
dotnet restore
dotnet build grex.sln -p:Platform=x64
# Run all tests
dotnet test grex.sln -p:Platform=x64For detailed build configurations, CI pipelines, and asset generation, see Build & Test Reference.
Issues and pull requests are welcome! Please:
- Keep new UI strings in the
.reswfiles so localization stays in sync - Run
dotnet test grex.sln -p:Platform=x64before submitting - Add or update docs under
docs/when you ship new features
Released under the GNU General Public License v3.0. See LICENSE for details.
Created by VisorCraft